Improved artificial thread and method and means for conditioning same



Patented Mar. 31, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IMPROVED ARTIFICIAL THREAD AND METHOD AND MEANS FOR CONDITION- ING SAME Application December 11, 1931, Serial No. 580,416

12 Claims.

In the conditioning of articial silk such as that produced by the cuprammonium stretch spinning method, it has been the practice to pass the thread from the stretch spinning nozzle through a porcelain guide at which point an acid or salt fixing solution is applied from a nozzle outside of the guide for the purpose of completing the coagulation of the thread. The thread from the guide is then led onto a winding reel, the guide being reciprocated through several inches to distribute the thread over a corresponding surface of the winding reel.

The porcelain guide which has been used in this connection is of considerable length and the friction of such a guide is so great that the speed of the winding reel must be reduced to avoid. roughening or damaging the thread as it passes through the guide. Also the width of the guides used for this purpose, relative to the size of the thread, has lbeen so great that the thread only contacts with the bottom of the guide, with the result that the plastic thread is flattened before the fixing solution is applied. To remedy the last mentioned difficulty it has sometimes been the practice to use a metal guide in the porcelain guide to give the desired uniform shape to the thread.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a guide which will permit a greater winding speed. Another object is to produce a thread having a novel configuration and one which may be used satisfactorily for some purposes without the customary twisting step. Further objects will become apparent.

In describing my invention, reference will be made to the drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan View of an apparatus including a series of spinning funnels and their respective acid guides. Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2, while the traveling bar is at the midpoint of its reciprocation. Fig, 3 is an enlarged view of one of the acid guides. Figs. 4 and 5 are taken from photomicrographs and illustrate the twisting effect of the guides herein provided upon the fibres passed through them.

Of the several numerals upon the drawing I denotes a stretch spinning nozzle of standard construction. The thread 2 from the nozzle I passes around the guide rod 3 and through the guide wheel 4 and the guide 5 to the winding reel 6. The guide wheel 4 has a groove l, which is substantially 'V-shaped and is rounded at the bottom, extending around its periphery and is secured to the rod 8 which is supported from the bar 9 by bands I0 positioned upon each side of the guide rWheel and serving to prevent its lateral movement along the rod.

The guide 5 has a semicircular head II with a groove I2, similar to that in the guide wheel 4, extending about its peripheral surface. This guide is supported in such a position that the head is set at an angle oi about 15 degrees to the path of the thread between the guide 4 and the guide 5. The stern I3 of the guide 5 has a hole extending through it through which the fixing liquid may be led from the supply pipe I4 to the mid-portion of the groove I2 in the periphery of the guide. The head of the guide 5 is inclined forwardly so that the fixing liquid will run down the thread 2 and/ or the lip I5.

The guides I and 5 are reciprocated with the bar 9 to permit the proper distribution of the thread over the surface of the winding reel 6 as the latter rotates at the desired winding speed. Since the funnels I and the rod 3 are stationary, the thread will oscillate between the extreme positions indicated in dotted lines at 2a and 2b. The width of the groove I is such that when the bar 9 moves to the left of its normal position the thread will contact with the right hand edge of the groove l and as the bar moves to the right of its normal position, the thread 2 Will contact with the left hand of the groove 'I. In considering in detail the movement of a section of the thread at a uniform speed over the reciprocating guide 4, starting with the guide in the mid-position, the portion of the thread going through the groove at the start will only contact with the curved bottom of the groove; as the reciprocating bar 9 moves the thread will contact with one side oi the guide and the pressure of this contact will increase until the extreme position of the bar 9 is reached; the pressure of the contact will then decrease until at the mid-point the thread will again only contact with the bottom of the groove; as the reciprocation of the traveling bar continues the other side of the thread will contact with the side of the guide 4 and the pressure of this contact will increase until the extreme position is reached, after which it will reduce as the bar moves back to the normal position. This cycle will be repeated as the movements of the thread and reciprocating bar continue.

In passing through this mechanism the thread which is first spread out into a at horizontal band of fibres by passing over the guide rod 3 is changed to a curved band whenever it contacts with the bottom of the groove 'I in the guide 4 and is flattened in a more or less vertical plane whenever it contacts with the respective sides oi the groove 1. The aggregated effect is to give the thread a twisted type of structure as indicated in the photomicrograph Fig. 4.

As the still plastic thread passes through the guide it will first contact with the right hand edge of the groove l2 and then with the curved central portion of the groove where the fixing liquid is applied. The thread passing from the guide 5 will contact with the left hand side of the groove and passes from there to the reel 6. This further twists and compacts the thread structure as ilustrated in the photomicrograph Fig. 5.

The guide 5 may be of porcelain, glass or other suitable acid resistant material if an acid fixing solution is used or it may be of any suitable material which is resistant to the salt solution if this type of fixing solution is used. The short contact with the guide 5, due to the curved shape of the groove l2, will permit greater speed of winding without excessive friction upon the thread.

The reciprocating action of the guide 4 and the angular displacement of the guide 5 will result in a thread having an improved structure and one which may be utilized directly for weaving and knitting without the customary twisting step.

Although I have described my invention as applied to an apparatus using a winding reel, it is apparent that it need not be restricted to the embodiment described. For instance, it may be used with a standard spinning pot for assembling the yarn, in which event the reciprocation may be dispensed with.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for producing artificial thread, the combination with a spinning nozzle, of a means for collecting the thread and a reciprocating thread guide positioned between the nozzle and the collecting means, said guide having a plurality of thread contacting surfaces, two of which are at an angle to the direction of travel of the thread through said guide and adapted to contact simultaneously with both sides of the thread.

2. In an apparatus for producing artificial thread the c-ombination with a spinning nozzle, of' means for assembling the thread from the nozzle and a guide between the nozzle and the assembling means, said guide having two thread contacting surfaces, said surfaces being positioned at an angle to the path of the thread passing therethrough and adapted to contact simultaneously with opposite sides of the thread, and having a third thread contacting surface between said surfaces and adapted to contact with a third side of said thread.

3. In an apparatus for producing artificial thread, the combination with a spinning nozzle, of a reel for collecting the thread, a reciprocating guide between the nozzle and the reel, said guide comprising a surface over which the thread passes and other surfaces positioned at an angle to the path of thread passing thereby, adapted to contact alternately and simultaneously with opposite sides of thread after it has passed the first mentioned surface as the guide reciprocates, and means for applying a coagulating solution to the thread as it passes over the alternately contacting surfaces.

4. In an apparatus for producing artificial thread, the combination with a spinning nozzle, of a winding reel and a reciprocating guide between the nozzle and the reel, said guide comprising a disk having a groove in its peripheral surface adapted to receive the thread and to bear alternately upon opposite sides thereof as the guide reciprocates, and a fixed groove set at an angle toI the path of the thread passing therethrough having edges adapted to bear upon opposite sides of the thread and having an arched bottom surface between said edges which contacts with the thread passing therethrough, and means for supplying a fixing solution to the point of contact with the bottom of the arched groove.

5. In an apparatus for producing artificial thread, an acid guide comprising an acid resistant arched groove set at an angle to the path of the thread passing therethrough and having a hollow stem for supplying acid to the midpoint of the arched groove.

6. A thread of artificial origin comprising a plurality of filaments having successive sections partially twisted toward opposite sides of the thread.

7. In an apparatus for producing artificial silk, the combination with a spinning nozzle, of means for collecting the thread, a stationary thread guide to receive the said threads from the nozzle, and a reciprocating thread guide between said stationary guide and said collecting means, said reciprocating guide comprising a plurality of thread contacting surfaces, two of which are at an angle to the path of thread passing thereby and adapted to contact simultaneously with both sides of the thread.

8. In an apparatus for producing artificial threads, in combination, a spinning nozzle for spinning the threads, a stationary guide rod around which the threads are passed, a reciprocating thread guide means comprising, a thread guide having a curved guiding groove, a second thread guide adapted to receive the thread and whose guiding groove is set at an angle to the path of the thread, the edges of the said last mentioned groove bearing alternately first on one side of the thread and then on the other as the thread guide is reciprocated, and means for collecting the thread.

9. In an apparatus for producing artificial threads, in combination, a spinning nozzle for spinning the threads, a thread guide rod around which the threads are drawn, a reciprocating thread guide means for laying the threads on a collecting reel, said reciprocating guide comprising a circular guide having a peripheral guide groove whose bottom surfaces is curved, a second guide having a semi-circular head and a peripheral guiding groove whose guiding surface is curved and set at an angle to the path of travel of thread.

10. In a method for producing threads of artificial origin, the steps of spinning a bundle of threads, fiattening the bundle of threads to a ribbon like formation, then cupping the ribbon like bundle, then collapsing the cupped ribbon formation, and collecting the bundle of threads.

11. A thread of artificial origin comprising a plurality of filaments having alternate sections partially twisted toward opposite sides of the thread and intermediate sections having a partial twist perpendicular to the alternate sections.

l2. In a method for producing threads of artificial origin, the steps of spinning a bundle of threads, flattening the bundle of threads to a ribbon-like formation, cupping the ribbon-like bundle, collapsing one side of the cupped ribbon, then collapsing the other side thereof, and collecting the bundle of threads.

HUGO HOFMANN. 

